Teaching the Arts to Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder workshop a success

Posted on January 9th, 2014 at 10:58 AM

We would like to thank the participants of the one-hour workshop to help local organizations learn how to teach the arts to students with autism spectrum disorder. These are the people helping our students and students like ours to become more engaged in the community and within the arts. We commend their desire to involve those from all walks of life in their programs.

As we know, about 1 in 88 children have an Autism Spectrum Disorder. During the workshop, members of local organizations like Academy Theatre, ArtsErie, Box of Light, Erie Playhouse, Theater on the Move, and the Young People's Chorus of Erie learned about the prevalence and variations of behavior across the spectrum.

Perhaps one of the most important lines from the workshop was "Even if they do one thing, they've done one thing." The importance of getting those on the autism spectrum disorder involved, even in the most minimal of ways, was shown to be an achievement for both the individual on the autism spectrum disorder and the organization helping them to do something within the arts.